Holiday Book Drive Returns For Fifth Year

The Greater Hartford Holiday Book Drive is back for the fifth straight year.

The book drive benefits Children Reading Partners, a program started in 1998 by the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford that pairs trained volunteers with students in schools in Hartford, Bloomfield , East Hartford , New Britain , and West Hartford .

Advertisement

Bennett Forrest, a real estate agent with the Miale Team at Keller Williams, is one of those volunteers. And as a member of the West Hartford Rotary Club, he wanted to start a book drive to help get more books into the hands of students at the schools Children Reading Partners works with.

"I was thinking of my son, who was in kindergarten at the time, who had books spilling off his shelves," Forrest said. "We had multiple copies. Meanwhile, some don't have a single book to their name."

In its first year, the book drive collected 1,000 books. Last year, they collected 3,000 books. They look for new or gently used non-religious books for students in prekindergarten through fourth grade.

Once sorted, the books are given to the schools, and can be used in any way they like. Some find their way into the school's classrooms and libraries, but most are distributed directly to students, said Alana Butler, the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford's director of volunteer engagement and the director of Children Reading Partners.

"The majority of the schools give them straight to the kids," Butler said. "Some of them will have a parent night - they want to make sure the parents know about the books. At one school, the principal sent us a thank you letter. He said so many kids didn't have books. For them to take home books was amazing for him to watch."

Forrest said between the book drive and the volunteer-based program, where adults visit the schools to read with the students once a week, it can be beneficial to students who may be struggling with reading. He's had the good fortune to be paired with the same student each year for the last four years.

"I've had experience as this young child matriculates through the system as I'm building a rapport, and year after year that's been beneficial," Forrest said. "We've gotten to know each other. It's also exposure to reading and it's also a confidence builder when they learn to read. The benefits of reading are more than just the ability to read."

Forrest believes that in some cases, it's a little more personal to give your time instead of your money, and Children Reading Partners is one of those times.

"Like anything, when you give money it's less personal," Forrest said. "When you can meet face to face with somebody, especially with the student I have and seeing the progress over the years. Many of the volunteers talk about that you don't know you're making an impact right away."

Books can be dropped off at four locations, including Beth El Temple in West Hartford, Beth Sholom B'nai Israel in Manchester, Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford, and Keller Williams Realty in West Hartford.

Advertisement

Monetary donations can also be made online, at bit.ly/GHBookDrive2018. All money collected will be used to purchase new books.